House Cleaning Marketing -- Stop Doing What You've Always Done
Growing a house cleaning company beyond the owner-reliant model takes a lot of hard work—and smart marketing.
When you first started your business, you likely created a marketing plan. (If you didn't, stop everything and read this article.) As you enter a ramped-up phase of growth, however, it's time to revisit and revise that plan. Marketing strategy and tactics must evolve as a company grows.
Don't skip this step. Getting complacent with marketing, and doing what you've always done, is a recipe for disaster. Want to expand services, land more clients and tackle new service areas, or in any other way grow beyond what you're doing now? Then you need a new approach.
Here are 5 smart marketing tips to update your marketing plan as you grow
1. Change Your Marketing Message
Years ago, marketers tried to appeal to everyone and hope that a percentage would buy. But it's no longer enough to use a singular marketing message with all buyers. The more targeted and personalized you can get, the more successful you'll be.
If you're growing your business by expanding into offering new services, you need an in-depth understanding of how to perform these services. For example, if you want to offer carpet cleaning services, then getting certified training through IICRC is the first step before going out any buying the equipment.
Expanding into a new service will also require a change in messaging. Announce the new service by updating all your marketing channels – your website, social media pages, marketing kits, etc.
Construct a compelling story that illustrates how you are different and better from the competition and—most importantly—how you will solve their problems and make their lives easier or better.
And don't forget to start marketing this new service by offering it to your existing customers. It's easier to sell to a current customer than it is to land a new customer. Perhaps give a small discount on their next home cleaning when they book their first carpet cleaning.
Watch the video to discover a way to find out what your customers LOVE about your cleaning service!
2. Become the Expert
Trying to ramp up growth in your current market? In that case, you've probably already done a good job of spreading the word about what you do, how it helps, and how it's better/different than the other guys.
Now, it's time to establish your company as an authority in your industry. To make your company the first that comes to mind when they think residential cleaning, you need to make it clear you are the go-to expert.
This doesn't happen overnight. It takes time to build up credibility. To start, focus on “thought leadership” marketing. Create and share content (via your company newsletter, blog, social media, etc.) that provides information your ideal customer will find useful.
One important type of content to start creating? Case studies. This is especially important as you branch into new service offerings. Develop case studies by explaining the specific problems you helped solve. Start by explaining the problem, describe how you solved the problem and the final result. This allows prospects to see that you are helping others with similar issues, which is important when you're not yet known as the go-to service provider for their industry.
Take this information sharing a step further. Offer to speak at industry events and at those geared toward your target audience – perhaps a local networking event. Pitch yourself as a not just a cleaning expert, but a home services expert. Take advantage of any such opportunity to share your knowledge with your customer base.
Finally, be open to new ideas. Leaders in an industry are among the first to try new technologies or experiment with alternative systems. Take the lead in trying new things and share your innovative wins in press releases, blogs, and on social media.
3. Focus on Referral Marketing
When you start your house cleaning business, your marketing focuses almost singularly on one task—generating leads. You want to get your message in front of as many prospective buyers as possible.
That approach makes sense, and can continue (to some degree) during the expansion phase. But now is the time to shift more of your marketing dollars and time toward referrals.
Why? Referrals from existing clients are the best and most cost-effective way to get highly qualified leads and grow your business. Just consider these stats:
- It costs 5 percent more to acquire a new customer than it does to keep a current one.
- Loyal customers are 5x as likely to repurchase, 5x as likely to forgive, 4x as likely to refer, and 7x as likely to try a new offering.
- A 5 percent increase in customer retention can increase a company's profitability by 75 percent.
Now that you've built a base of happy clients, it's time to start tapping into them strategically to fuel your company's growth.
Want ideas for creating a successful referral program? Check out this video and this article.
4. Partner Up
Think about complementary services you don't offer but that your customers need. Consider partnering with non-competitive businesses in those areas on joint promotions. Examples might be landscaping companies, electricians and plumbers. This can be a no-cost, high-reward activity with the potential to help you reach loads of new customers.
You can leverage partnerships for everything from delivering local educational sessions to home owners associations, to offering service bundling at a discount. Get creative and dream up clever ways to make these collaborations mutually beneficial.
5. Employ New Tactics
Earlier, we said industry leaders need to be innovative. That extends to the types of marketing tools you use. Ready to grow? Try a new tactic to reach new prospects.
- Mobile: Nearly 70% searching online do so from a mobile device, not a computer, and 61% of those people will abandon a site that doesn't look good on their phone or tablet. If you haven't already, now is the time to upgrade to a responsive website.
- Online Advertising (Google Ads, Facebook Ads): Although referrals are extremely important, being found online in today's mobile world is equally important. Prospects are searching for services online and ads are the first things they see in their search results. Many cleaning companies are using Pay Per Click advertising successfully to drive leads to their website.
- Social Media/Email: If you don't about terms like “sales funnel” and “tripwire,” it's time to do some homework. Social media and email marketing can be incredibly powerful for cleaning services, but selling a $3,000 a year cleaning service isn't the same as selling a $10 product. You'll need to learn how to use educational content (or targeted ads) lure people to your email list, and then how to nurture them from prospect to buyer.
- Video: There's no question that video is hot in today's online world. Creating written content still matters, but if you're not yet using video to tell your story, you're missing out. You can use it to demonstrate the equipment you use, showcase your best employees, answer common questions, and more.
As you continue to reach higher and higher levels for your business, make it a habit to reevaluate your marketing strategies. The most successful business owners are always looking for ways to expand and innovate to create new opportunities.
As a cleaning business owner, you have unique marketing challenges. Having been through many of those same challenges, and having helped thousands of cleaning companies since 2005, Jean and her team are ready to run your entire marketing program.
Get back to running your business and let us help you start growing today!
